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Coyotes-Wolves-Cougars.blogspot.com

Grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, coyotes, cougars/ mountain lions,bobcats, wolverines, lynx, foxes, fishers and martens are the suite of carnivores that originally inhabited North America after the Pleistocene extinctions.
This site invites research, commentary, point/counterpoint on that suite of native animals (predator and prey) that inhabited The Americas circa 1500-at the initial point of European exploration and subsequent colonization.
Landscape ecology, journal accounts of explorers and frontiersmen, genetic evaluations of museum animals, peer reviewed 20th and 21st century research on various aspects of our "Wild America" as well as subjective commentary from expert and layman alike. All of the above being revealed and discussed with the underlying goal of one day seeing our Continent rewilded.....Where big enough swaths of open space exist with connective corridors to other large forest, meadow, mountain, valley, prairie, desert and chaparral wildlands.....Thereby enabling all of our historic fauna, including man, to live in a sustainable and healthy environment. - Blogger Rick

Groups advertise $10,000 reward in hopes of catching wolf killer

Starting Tuesday, this billboard will appear on Hwy 82 outside of La Grande. The photo is a male Wenaha Pack wolf illegally killed in September.

Local citizens and conservation groups today announced a new effort to bring the poacher who illegally shot an endangered wolf in Oregon to justice. Starting tomorrow, drivers travelling East on Hwy. 82 from La Grande will see a billboard with the image of the young wolf killed in September and the phone number to call with information about its death. The advertisement highlights a $10,000 reward being offered for information about the poaching and the statement "whatever you think of wolves…poaching is wrong!".Wally Sykes of Joseph, Oregon is a founder of the community group Northeast Oregon Ecosystems which spearheaded the effort to raise funds from neighbors, friends, community members, and wildlife advocates in Wallowa County upset by the illegal killing. The group has also funded predator management presentations for ranchers and the range rider program implemented by Defenders of Wildlife in partnership with local ranchers.

"Tourism is vital to this area." said Sykes. "People come to see spectacular wild landscapes and wildlife. Just like in Yellowstone, the return of wolves to Oregon has the potential to draw visitors from all over the country. Anti-wildlife attitudes and rhetoric that result in the illegal killing of endangered species are counterproductive and give our community a black eye."

The wolf killed in September was collared by biologists in early August in an effort to track the Wenaha pack – one of only two known packs in Oregon. In a monthly wolf update, ODFW claimed the collaring effort began in 2007 and represented the agency's single largest wolf collaring effort. Photos of the silver male were circulated widely. The wolf was found dead on September 30th by wildlife agents and represents the third illegal wolf killing since the species first returned to Oregon after being exterminated over 60 years ago. Oregon's confirmed wolf population now stands at 24 wolves in 2 packs.

In response, local citizens, conservation groups, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have offered a combined reward of $10,000. High profile wolf poachings have also recently occurred in Washington.
"There is room in the West for both wildlife and people. Old attitudes of intolerance and fear don't get us anywhere," said Sykes. "Wolves were shot on sight until they were all gone. Living with wolves is going to require some adjustments, but it's the right thing to do in a state that prides itself on its conservation values."
A press release about the reward can be found here. Anyone with information about this wolf poaching should contact Special Agent Cindi Bockstadter at 503.682.6131Contact:
Wally Sykes, Northeast Oregon Ecosystems, wally_sykes2000@yahoo.com
(Phone number available upon request)
Suzanne Stone, Defenders of Wildlife, 208.424.9385, sstone@defenders.org
Greg Dyson, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, 541.963.3950 x22, greg@hellscanyon.org
Rob Klavins, Oregon Wild, 503.283.6343 ext 210, rk@oregonwild.orgAdditional background informationOregon has largely avoided the wolf hysteria that has marred states like Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. However, anti-wolf rhetoric hit a high point last spring when wolves killed 6 calves in Wallowa County. Other losses were claimed, but unsubstantiated or investigated and disproved. The county reacted by attempting to declare an official state of emergency, and the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife issued controversial kill permits for any two uncollared wolves in the area. Despite an end to the depredations, the agency continued to expand and extend the hunt – an action that generated several lawsuits for violating its own state wolf plan and federal law. In what conservationists considered a validation of their claims, Wildlife Services almost immediately and voluntarily suspended the hunt. In August, wolves were returned to the protections of the Federal Endangered Species Act.

Wolves are beginning to take tenuous steps towards recovery in Oregon. After returning to the state a little over a decade ago, Oregon confirmed its first pups in 2008. With the addition of 7 pups and confirmation of 3 wolves in Umatilla County, the confirmed population has grown to 24 animals and 2 breeding pairs. However, in addition to poaching, wolves face threats from cars and government-sanctioned killing. In 2008, Oregon experienced its first livestock losses to a pair of wolves that had been drawn in by a two-acre carcass pit. At the time, the wolves represented one-fifth of the state's known population and were in turn shot by government hunters. The Wenaha wolf pack has not been implicated in any depredations or conflict with humans.

Though wolves are the focus of a purposeful campaign of misinformation and fear, wolves have a marginal impact on the livestock industry, science is beginning to show their positive impact on the landscape, and the species is not viewed as a serious threat to humans. Despite Oregon's small wolf population, a management plan that allows wolves to be killed, and the threat of poachers, some interests continue to argue that both state and federal endangered species laws should be relaxed or eliminated entirely to make it easier to kill the recovering native predator.

Likely a gray wolf in northwestern Ontario(could be a gray/eastern wolf hybrid

Oregon Wolf OR7 filmed in May 2014---Does he now have a mate?

Aldo Leopold--3 quotes from his SAN COUNTY ALMANAC

"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."

Aldo Leopold

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

Aldo Leopold

''To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering."

Wildlife Rendezvous

Like so many conscientious hunters and anglers come to realize, good habitat with our full suite of predators and prey make for healthy and productive living............Teddy Roosevelt depicted at a "WILDLIFE RENDEZVOUS"

Blog Disclaimer

This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer. In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time…I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. This blog is intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot and manifestation of my various thoughts and opinions, and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those I may hold today. All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. Rick Meril and WWW.COYOTES-WOLVES-COUGARS.COM make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.